{I don't like the name "christmas", so I'll refer to it by its common abbreviation, "xmas" throughout this word} 

This xmas season in the USA has been characterized by public attacks against all types of xmas symbols. Xmas trees have been banned from public places; public schools have prohibited the singing of xmas carols in year-end school events; I even know of one public school that sent a student home because he arrived at a school party dressed as santa-claus. Some stores have even banned the Salvation Army from collecting money at their front doors because of its close connections to xmas.

In the meantime, inclement weather has hit New York and other cities in the US's northeast and mid-west. In New York, wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour were reported on Thursday (Dec 23). According to a WNBC report, the wind was so strong that a huge tree fell over a house in Long Island, destroying the house; fortunately, no one was home at the time. In nearby New Jersey, the weather led to an accident that caused the death of one person. Ohio and other mid-western states like Indiana and Kentucky were pounded with feet of snow, making road conditions very dangerous for those who wanted to travel for the xmas holiday.

During the weeks leading up to xmas, the northeast and most of the U.S. have also been hit by viciously cold weather. Hidalgo County in Texas, a southern county around the Gulf of Mexico, experienced its first measurable snowfall since Valentine's Day, 1895 (119 years ago). The snow made xmas travel conditions very difficult. Some areas got about a foot of snow overnight. It is expected that mild weather will melt that snow by tomorrow (Dec 26).

Even the warm state of Florida is expecting severe rain for tonight and tomorrow, which may cause flooding. This will obviously affect people who visited Florida for xmas and will be trying to leave Florida tomorrow (Dec 26). Two to four inches of snow are also expected in other southeastern states like North and South Carolina. Very heavy rain is expected for tonight and tomorrow in the West Coast as well, which may cause mudslides and other dangerous travel conditions from San Francisco all the way down to San Diego, California. 

Many weather-related accidents were also reported in Arkansas on Interstate 40, with traffic backed up for at least 10 miles last night (xmas eve). Many drivers were stranded for as long as 9 hours. Two tractor trailers apparently jackknifed, and emergency crews had trouble getting to the scene.

Today (Dec 25), ComAir, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines (based in the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky regional airport), was forced to cancel all its flights throughout the U.S. due to a computer crash caused by its inability to handle all the cancellations and changes provoked by the bad weather. Thousands of U.S. Airways travelers also suffered headaches today as they were separated from their luggage; the problems with the luggage began at the Philadelphia Airport on Thursday (Dec 23), causing a ripple effect of baggage problems in other airports. Many passengers had their xmas gifts in their luggage, meaning that they were unable to give out their xmas presents today. U.S. Airways was also forced to cancel about 100 flights yesterday. Amy Kudwa, a U.S. Airways spokesperson declared that part of the reason for the problems was the unusually high number of flight attendants and baggage handlers calling in sick.

(Much of the information above was obtained from Fox News Channel reports).

This is the prophetic interpretation:

In order to understand the prophetic reason why all these things are happening at once, we must consider the following:

When was Yeshua born?

At http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/resource/abiah.htm, you may find a very detailed study that shows from Scripture that the Lord Jesus was born on the 15th day of the 7th month of the Jewish year, on Succoth, the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33, John 1:14). This corresponds to late September or early October in our calendar, meaning that Jesus could not have been born on December 25th. This is reaffirmed by the fact that, according to Luke 2:8-20, there were shepherds watching over their flock at night around the time when Jesus was born. Shepherds would have their flocks outdoors during fall, but would keep them indoors during the winter months such as December.

"Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee." (Leviticus 19:19)

"¹On that day they read in the book of Moses in the audience of the people; and therein was found written, that the Ammonite and the Moabite should not come into the congregation of God for ever; ²Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude." (Nehemiah 13:1-3)

"¹Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: ²Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. ³For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe." (Jeremiah 10:1-3)

"¹⁴For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: ¹⁵Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; ¹⁶And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods." (Exodus 34:14-16)

"I do it for Jesus"

Many believers who are aware of xmas' pagan origins say, "Well, I do it in honor of Jesus, not in honor of any pagan gods". This sounds like a good answer, but there are several problems with it. One is the fact that it assumes that you and I, as believers, have been given the prerogative by God to choose what feasts we can celebrate unto Him. Scripture, however, contradicts this assumption:

"¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts." (Leviticus 23:1-2)

"²³For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: ²⁴And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. ²⁵After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. ²⁶For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Notice that the Lord gave specific instructions concerning how we are to make remembrance of Him: He called us to remember His death, but never said anything about making acts in remembrance of His birth. There is a spiritual reason for this, and those with ears to hear will know why (it is not he who starts who shall be rewarded, but he who finishes the race).

Details of Jesus' birth are only mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, while details concerning the supper and His death are mentioned in all 4 Gospels. It becomes clear, therefore, that any "official celebration" of Jesus' historical birth was not inspired from reading the Scriptures.

As we said above, it was God, not man, who decides which feasts should be celebrated unto Him, and we quoted from Leviticus to support this. Knowing my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am sure that there is someone out there saying, 

"Hey, the God of the Old Testament was a pretty tough God; that's why He was very strict about the feasts that were to be celebrated; the New Testament God, however, is nice and sweet; we are under grace now, not the Law, so we have more liberties now than we had before"

This argument, however, has a "boomerang effect" that most believers who make it are not aware of. If you base your argument on the idea that we are no longer under the Law, you would then have to consider the fact that "grace" came to reduce the number of literal feasts that we were to celebrate instead of increasing them. If we are living under grace now, why should the Church institute an additional feast that it was not called to celebrate under the Law?

The institutionalization of xmas has created a tremendous social pressure that makes it "unpopular" not to celebrate it; the believers who do not celebrate xmas are forced to give difficult explanations to their young children as to why satan (oops... I meant "santa", "sorry") will not leave them any presents this year (or any other year). The believers who do celebrate xmas are forced to go into credit card debt to buy tons of gifts for relatives and friends in an effort not to let anyone feel "forgotten". I thought that the "grace" which so many believers love was supposed to reduce the number of obligations and pressures, not increase them.

Another problem with the "I do it for Jesus" argument can be seen from the following passage:

Notice that Abel offered God what He had asked for --- blood sacrifice --- while Cain offered God the sacrifice that he (Cain) thought would be pleasing to God, in this case, fruits of the ground. What was the difference? Why did God reject Cain's sacrifice and accept Abel's? Because Abel was giving his sacrifice out of obedience, while Cain gave it out of his own opinion. "Religion" is man figuring out a way of pleasing God, while "faith" is man subjecting Himself under God's will and judgments. Both "obedience" and "opinion" start with the letter "o", but "obedience" ends in "e" --- as in "eternal life" --- whereas "opinion" ends in "n" -- as in "nowhere fast". Mind you, opinions are valid if they are born out of a heart that is in complete submission to God. No Christian who celebrates xmas, however, does it because he or she was before God's Face one day and concluded that God wanted him or her to celebrate it. All Christians who celebrate xmas (without exception) do it as a learned tradition; they do it because everyone else does it. I used to celebrate xmas myself, but, as God made me aware of the pagan origins of xmas and of how the "xmas spirit" is contradictory to His Nature, I stopped celebrating it.

Remember, the acceptability of a sacrifice unto God is not determined by you; it is determined by Him. If He hates what you are giving Him, no amount of "good intentions" on your part will do any good:

"¹⁰Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. ¹¹To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. ¹²When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? ¹³Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. ¹⁴Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them." (Isaiah 1:10-14)

Fellow believer, the Bible does speak of voluntary offerings, but it also shows that those voluntary offerings are prompted by His Spirit; they are not "ideas we come up with" to please God:

"santa"-claus

As you all know, the name "santa-claus" is a (very weird) abbreviation of the name "St. Nicklaus" or "St. Nicholas". The name "Nicholas" is derived from the Greek name nikolaos, which literally means "conqueror of the people". santa-claus, therefore, refers to the "generous enemies of God" that Isaiah 32:6 speaks of. As we share in a previous article, these enemies are the ministers who promote a "gospel" of liberality and blessings in order to gain spiritual control over their brothers and sisters in Christ. Doesn't that sound exactly like santa?

"Be good all year and do all that we command you to do, little kid, and jolly old santa will give you the useless little toy you've been asking for, even if we know that you will stop playing with it after 6 weeks."

Those of you who learned Spanish may know that the word "santa" is the female form of the word "saint" in Spanish (the male form is "san" as in "san francisco"). Why would an old man have the name of a female saint? Because santa-claus is a physical representation of the god behind the pastoral matriarchy which we have discussed before. Today's Church is ruled by the pastoral and teaching ministries, which are ministries with a "female" functionality, whereas the ministries with a "male" functionality (apostles, prophets, and evangelists) have been relegated to a submissive role under the lordship of pastors. As we have said before, "woman" in Scripture many times is a figure of our "souls" while "man" is a figure of our "spirits". When pastors stand up and preach about blessings, grace, and getting things from God, they sound like men and women who are speaking "in the Spirit". However, these people are really speaking from their souls. They sound and look like "spiritual males", but they are nothing more than "soulish females". In the same way, "santa-claus" looks and sounds like a man, but he has the subtle name of a woman.

Grandpa santa

What is the spiritual reason behind the fact that santa is portrayed as a "grandfather" and not a "father"? Because the Church has done the same with God (cursed be those who do so). Grandfathers are the "good guys" who give the children all they want; fathers are the "disciplinarian meanies" who deny the children the "right to have fun". When God speaks of Himself as our Father, He does it in the context of discipline and judgments, and pastors sure don't like that; pastors prefer "santa-god".

"⁷If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? ⁸But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. ⁹Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. ¹¹Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. ¹²Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; ¹³And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed." (Hebrews 12:7-13)

"¹¹My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: ¹²For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." (Proverbs 3:11-12)

santa's elves

What is the spiritual reason behind santa's little "elves"? In essence, they represent the large group of believers whose spiritual growth has been stunted by a "gospel" that emphasizes blessing and grace (instead of righteousness and purpose) and who are therefore relegated to the minor role of working like submissive, little ants under the lordship of their pastor (represented by santa). As we have said before, our spirits grow and mature in the measure that we are exposed to God's spiritual judgments. It is through His judgments that we are molded into His Glorious likeness and Nature. The elves are useless and irrelevant without santa, just as today's believers consider themselves spiritually irrelevant and useless without the guidance and spiritual covering of their "great leader", pastor santa.

Cursed be the santas of this world, and cursed be those who have hardened their hearts so much that they enjoy being elves, and even teach others to be elves!!!

The xmas tree

During xmas season some years ago, I was standing in front of an 11th-floor window, watching the cars go by on the street below. I then saw a pick-up truck go by that was carrying an "xmas" tree. I then asked the Lord, "What does the xmas tree represent?", and He said, "Your brothers and sisters when they have been cut down from their spiritual calling". As you may imagine, the answer was shocking to my heart, and continues to shock me, even to this day.

"⁴That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! ⁵The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. ⁶He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. ⁷The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. ⁸Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us." (Isaiah 14:4-8)

As we have shared before, "Babylon" in Scripture is generally a spiritual figure of the pastoral matriarchy. Therefore, the passage above is prophesying the latter-day fall of the pastoral matriarchy inside the Church. According to Psalm 104:16 and Isaiah 61:3, we are the "trees", and notice what verse 8 above declares that we will do in the latter days --- we will rejoice saying, "Since you have been laid down, no feller is come up against us". When the pastoral matriarchy is toppled, the feller shall no longer roam inside God's Church.

A tree is alive and can grow, produce oxygen, and house birds and other animals while it is planted on the ground. When it is cut down, the tree dies, and its growth and usefulness are immediately terminated. The tree then is placed in the feller's home as a trophy, as a sign of his superiority over the once mighty and living tree. This is exactly what happens when believers surrender their prophetic calling and purpose in the name of submission to the pastoral matriarchy. It is sad, therefore, to see brothers and sisters with xmas trees in their homes who do not realize that those dying trees represent satan's plans to cut down their very own prophetic calling.

God's trees must willingly relinquish their lives in order to be cut down by the feller. The Church's forest has been cut down for centuries because the Church has, of its own volition and concupiscence, allowed the feller into the forest to do his dirty work (cursed be satan, and cursed be santa):

"⁴Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs. ⁵A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. ⁶But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. ⁷They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. ⁸They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. ⁹We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. ¹⁰O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?" (Psalm 74:4-10)

When a person loses his or her prophetic calling, his or her tree is eternally cut off from God's forest. When prophetic fullness and purpose is lost, Hittite spirits of emptiness and purposelessness swarm in. This explains why xmas is such a depressing time of year and why so many people commit suicide around the xmas "holiday". The ephemeral, gooey feelings of "family unity", "presents", and "kisses under the mistletoe" are paid back with interest. satan gives things at a price, and the price is always much, much, much higher than the value of the thing you are given.

The fact that the winds caused a large tree to fall on and destroy a house in Long Island on Thursday December 23 is a prophetic exhortation to the Church (as we have said before, the number "23" is a figure of the pastoral ministry):

You have allowed satan to cut down your prophetic callings because you have foolishly mingled My Holy things with his things. Your lack of spiritual discernment is allowing satan to destroy your potential to abide in Me forever. If you seek Me, I will restore you, and I will shepherd you to green pastures of prophetic purpose. I come against those who are followers of men, for My time has come for My name to be vindicated among the nations of the Earth.

"Baby" Jesus

This may sound a little odd to you, but satan loves "baby Jesus". He smiles when he sees Jesus as a weak, defenseless child who will never grow. He rejoices when he looks inside believers and all he sees is a baby Jesus who was born into the believer's manger heart many years ago when he or she repeated the sinner's prayer, but who never grew after that. satan loves "baby Jesus" because "baby Jesus" can be manipulated and controlled by "matriarchal Mary" as she holds him in her arms. satan hates "grown-up Jesus" because "grown-up Jesus" can strike him down from the spiritual atmosphere and squash him into eternal annihilation (2 Thessalonians 2:8), but "grown-up Jesus" can only be manifested through believers who are willing to grow in the Spirit instead of merely coasting on into a purposeless eternity.

The cold shoulder

The pastoral matriarchy has emphasized the importance of "fellowship" and "soul communion" among brothers, instead of emphasizing apostolic righteousness and prophetic purpose in Christ. This explains why the xmas season emphasizes the warmth of "fellowship and family" so much. This is why God has sent such frigid weather throughout America during this xmas season, as a prophetic sign that God is tired of "social club" warmth inside His Church. The Lord is declaring that those who seek after the warmth of soul communion will end in the cold of purposelessness. Believers who seek man's warm shoulder will receive God's cold shoulder in eternity -- saved from the fires of hell, but reproached by God forever.

The fact that there were so many "traveling difficulties" this xmas season is also a prophetic figure of how the Lord is coming against the spirit of "soul-oriented communication and communion". The fact that the U.S. Airways baggage problems (mentioned at the top) began at the Philadelphia airport reinforces this; the name "Philadelphia" literally means "brotherly affection or love", meaning that God is coming against the spirit that places "brotherly affection" over love for Him. As we have shared before, the first commandment is to give Him 100% of our love, and the second commandment is to love others in the context of our total love in Him.

"⁷He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. ⁸But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:7-8)

Wheat among the tares

Having said all of the above, it must be said that there are a few things of God that have unfortunately become trapped inside the whole xmas phenomenon. For example, the "Little Drummer Boy" song is a powerfully anointed song that reflects a heart that knows that it does not have much to offer but is willing to give itself in full sacrifice unto God. I am being moved to tears as I write these words, because I have always seen myself as that little drummer boy that presents himself before Jesus with nothing but a little drum, and I am stirred by the fact that the beating of my little drum is important to Him. Praised be my Lord and my King!!! Praised be His Name for ever more!!! Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Lord!

That precious song also speaks of how we are to recognize God, even when He is wrapped up inside the body of a child. It speaks of how we are to recognize the King, even when He is not living in a big castle and dressed with kingly robes. It speaks of how we are to recognize our God and our King inside our fellow brother and sister, even when he or she does not have a "religious nametag" that our natural eyes may see. The person who cannot see the God-potential in others has not seen God.

You may have noticed that "The Little Drummer Boy" song does not mention any xmas-related thing; it doesn't speak of any reindeers, snowmen, "santa", or "jingle bells". The lyrics are completely based on Scripture. I am convinced in my spirit that songs such as these are not offensive to God; on the contrary, they are as sweet fragrance unto Him. The days will come when such precious songs will be rescued from the xmas prison they have been trapped in all these years.

The right way to fight

Indignation burns in my inner being when I have heard renowned pastors and ministers speaking in defense of xmas on secular television. I am outraged when I hear them making threats about going to court so that stupid "Merry xmas" banners may not be banned from public places. This shows how weak and earthly these men are! Is our God a "natural" God? Do we need to have a meaningless banner placed on a public school wall to prove that we are conquering the world unto God? Have these fools forgotten that our kingdom is spiritual?

This might not be pleasant to some of you, but I am even opposed to legal squabbles over the right to place the 10 commandments inside court rooms and buildings. If we are not spiritually living out the 10 commandments inside the Church, what point is there in having them up on a courtroom wall? Hypocrites! Haven't you learned that the battles of God are not fought by might or by power, but by the sword of His Spirit?

I am interested in conquering the hearts of the people in the courtroom unto God, not the walls!!! Besides, if I really believed that it was God's will to keep a 10-commandment monument inside a court building, I would not be holding protests outside the building. I would be praying for God to kill anyone who dared touch that monument!! (And I mean that literally). When Moses told Pharaoh to let God's people go, he did not hold a rally in downtown "Egypt City". He did not go to the Egyptian Supreme Court to have the Israelites released from slavery through an Egyptian judge order. He simply manifested God's supernatural power until Pharaoh had no choice but to let God's people go.

When we need a judge order to have our puny little religious symbols protected, we show the world how weak and pathetic we are!

Brothers fighting God

As I have watched "ministers" defending the attack against xmas on secular television, I have also become outraged, because these men (and women) are so hard-headed that they are not aware that it is God who is doing all these things. I can at least understand someone arguing that it is man, not God, who is trying to ban xmas symbols from public schools, but, can man control the weather? Is it "anti-xmas" man who is causing airlines to misplace baggage full of xmas gifts? Is it "anti-xmas" man who is making trees fall over houses and making snow fall in Hidalgo, Texas for the first time in 119 years? (119=17 times 7) Wake up and smell God's judgments, all you workers of iniquity! For it is God who is doing all these things.

It is God who is making judgments against xmas, and no man shall close the prophetic door that God has opened, for a remnant is here, and that remnant shall manifest His Glory in the latter days, whether man likes it or not.